Anti-government protesters sit down in front of Egyptian Army tanks to prevent them from moving at the protest site opposite the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and agreed to allow freedom of the press and to release those detained since anti-government protests began, though Al-Jazeera's English-language news network said one of its correspondents had been detained the same day by the Egyptian military. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)— AP

Anti-government protesters sit down in front of Egyptian Army tanks to prevent them from moving at the protest site opposite the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and agreed to allow freedom of the press and to release those detained since anti-government protests began, though Al-Jazeera's English-language news network said one of its correspondents had been detained the same day by the Egyptian military. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
/ AP

A boy holds an Egyptian flag next to anti-Mubarak protesters at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)— AP

A boy holds an Egyptian flag next to anti-Mubarak protesters at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
/ AP

Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters march in al Mansoura city, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. Arabic read " People Need the Removal of the Regime". (AP Photo)— AP

Egyptian anti-Mubarak protesters march in al Mansoura city, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. Arabic read " People Need the Removal of the Regime". (AP Photo)
/ AP

A woman makes tea for anti-Mubarak protesters at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)— AP

A woman makes tea for anti-Mubarak protesters at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, said it would begin talks Sunday with the government to try to end the country's political crisis but made clear it would insist on the immediate ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
/ AP

An Egyptian anti-Mubarak protester holds a banner reading in Arabic "If you love Egypt you don't still" at Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and agreed to allow freedom of the press and to release those detained since anti-government protests began, though Al-Jazeera's English-language news network said one of its correspondents had been detained the same day by the Egyptian military. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)— AP

An Egyptian anti-Mubarak protester holds a banner reading in Arabic "If you love Egypt you don't still" at Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and agreed to allow freedom of the press and to release those detained since anti-government protests began, though Al-Jazeera's English-language news network said one of its correspondents had been detained the same day by the Egyptian military. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
/ AP

Anti-government protesters sit and lie inside the tracks of an Egyptian Army tank, both to prevent them from moving and to shield themselves from the rain, at the protest site opposite the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and agreed to allow freedom of the press and to release those detained since anti-government protests began, though Al-Jazeera's English-language news network said one of its correspondents had been detained the same day by the Egyptian military. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)— AP

Anti-government protesters sit and lie inside the tracks of an Egyptian Army tank, both to prevent them from moving and to shield themselves from the rain, at the protest site opposite the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, Egypt Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups for the first time Sunday and agreed to allow freedom of the press and to release those detained since anti-government protests began, though Al-Jazeera's English-language news network said one of its correspondents had been detained the same day by the Egyptian military. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
/ AP

CAIRO 
The young Google Inc. executive detained for 12 days for protesting against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday he was behind the Facebook page that helped spark what he called "the revolution of the youth of the Internet." A U.S.-based human rights group said nearly 300 people have died in two weeks of clashes.

Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for the Internet company, sobbed throughout an emotional television interview just hours after he was freed. He insisted he had not been tortured and said his interrogators treated him with respect.

"This is the revolution of the youth of the Internet and now the revolution of all Egyptians," he said, adding that he was taken aback when the security forces holding him branded him a traitor.

"Anyone with good intentions is the traitor because being evil is the norm," he said. "If I was a traitor, I would have stayed in my villa in the Emirates and made good money and said like others, let this country go to hell. But we are not traitors," added Ghonim, an Egyptian who oversees Google's marketing in the Middle East and Africa from Dubai, one of the United Arab Emirates.

The protesters have already brought the most sweeping changes since Mubarak took power 30 years ago, but they are keeping up the pressure in hopes of achieving their ultimate goal of ousting Mubarak.

Ghonim has become a hero of the demonstrators since he went missing on Jan. 27, two days after the protests began. He confirmed reports by protesters that he was the administrator of the Facebook Page "We are all Khaled Said" that was one of the main tools for organizing the demonstration that started the movement on Jan. 25.

Khaled Said was a 28-year-old businessman who died in June at the hands of undercover police, setting off months of protests against the hated police. The police have also been blamed for enflaming violence by trying to suppress these anti-government demonstrations by force.

Ghonim's whereabouts were not known until Sunday, when a prominent Egyptian political figure confirmed he was under arrest and would soon be released.

He looked exhausted and said he had been unable to sleep for 48 hours, but not because he was being mistreated.

U.S.-based Human Rights Watch told The Associated Press on Monday that two weeks of clashes have claimed at least 297 lives, by far the highest and most detailed toll released so far. It was based on visits to seven hospitals in three cities and the group said it was likely to rise.

While there was no exact breakdown of how many of the dead police or protesters, "clearly, a significant number of these deaths are a result of the use of excessive and unlawful use of force by the police," said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch.

Egypt's Health Ministry has not given a comprehensive death toll, though a ministry official said he is trying to compile one.